National Parks proving less popular once Canada 150 free entry ended
OTTAWA — If you make it free, they will come.
Parks Canada’s free entry program for the country’s 150th birthday saw Canadians and other visitors flock to national parks and historic sites in record numbers. An extra 2.5 million visitors poured through the gates in 2017.
In the first eight months of 2018, the number of visitors fell 10 per cent from the same period in 2017. In some parks that saw the biggest jumps in 2017, visits are down more than 30 per cent.
“We expected we would see a big increase in visitation in 2017,” said Ed Jager, director of visitor experience for Parks Canada. “We also knew that we would see sort of a return to the previous trend.”